Although today SSDs are considered Plug & Play devices or components, since with the exception of having to install the operating system if it is the main disk, they do not require any treatment by the user other than installation. But it is true that in terms of achieving the highest performance in Windows 10 there are things we can do, what are these characteristics to achieve the maximum performance in our SSD?
Before we begin we have to make several critical points very clear. There is a big difference between the methods to achieve better performance and the methods to achieve maximum SSD durability, and that is that they are not the same.
How to optimize the performance of an SSD in Windows 10
There are manuals that treat the second with the first, others that mix them up and others confuse them directly and we will be specific. Techniques like disabling the defragmenter, removing hibernation, indexing, the paging file are totally counterproductive for what we are looking for here: maximum performance. That said, we are going with the little we can do to improve and ensure precisely that, the maximum performance on our device.
Keeping the unit firmware up to date
It seems like a no-brainer, but we have to insist on it: the firmware of each drive is key to achieving maximum performance and also having the maximum security of both the data and the integrity of the SSD.
As each manufacturer opts for a different method of updating the firmware of their units, we recommend that you follow the manuals that each one has for users and above all, make a copy of the data before each update.
Keep defragmentation up to date
Not that it will affect the performance of the SSD too much, but the truth is that it helps in certain aspects.
We are not going to explain where the Windows defragmenter is at this point, just saying that Microsoft‘s standard options are enough to not lose performance at any time.
Leave free space on the SSD
It is not a myth, SSDs need to have a minimum of free space to be able to operate at maximum performance. Depending on the manufacturer and the SSD controller, as well as to a lesser degree the motherboard or platform controller (NVMe), it will be necessary to leave more or less free space in percentage terms.
The normal thing for high-performance SSDs and from such reputable brands as Samsung or Corsair is to leave between 10 and 20% free if we do not want to face reading or writing problems.
Check the status of the AHCI and its drivers
Normally this no longer happens, but it is possible that if we are dealing with a SATA SSD we have another mode like RAID or RST set, so it is convenient to go to the device manager and check that we are running the OS in AHCI.
Additionally, the updated controller driver will also help ensure maximum performance every time.
Check that TRIM is working
For this we will go to the command prompt, the old MS-DOS, and we will place these parameters:
- fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify
If the values for NTFS and ReFS are zero, then TRIM is enabled and working correctly. If the values are 1 it means that it is not doing it and therefore we will have to enter the following command:
- fsutil behavior set DisableDeleteNotify 0
Once this is done, we check again with the first parameter that it is now zero, after which we will have to restart the PC to make sure that it works correctly.
Maintain SSD temperature in Windows 10
Another key point is the temperature, especially with the new high-performance PCIe 4.0 SSDs. These are being so tight on speeds that your drivers are suffering a lot from the stress of hitting those performances.
Opting for an SSD heatsink if our motherboard does not come as standard is a great option, especially so that they never go above 60 degrees Celsius.
And so far the optimizations to achieve the best performance. Do not be fooled by techniques such as removing paging files and other “optimizations”, because they do not work in all cases, since for example the paging file is tremendously used by game developers to export textures when RAM is insufficient.
In terms of pure performance, there is nothing more to do than what is exposed in this guide, there are no more secrets, or moving temporary folders or anything similar, at least in a normal use of an SSD for work or play.